BEIJING -- The Niukouyu Wetland Park in Southwest Beijing, which occupies an area of 140 hectares, is a witness to the successful collaboration between Chinese and French companies.

The site of the park had been home to an industrial wastewater reservoir of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company. In 2006, SYPC and Veolia Environnement of France started cooperating on wastewater treatment, discharge, and ecology restoration. In 2017, the site became a wetland park and opened to the public for free, with this treated wastewater as its main water source.

Today, the Niukouyu Wetland Park is a habitat for over 140 species of birds, including rare ones, and a hot destination for tourists and shutterbugs.

Christophe Maquet, Veolia's senior executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific Zone, said that Veolia is "one of the companies that are providing solutions for customers in terms of CO2 savings," and China's "dual carbon" goal is "a very important driver" for the company.

"What we expect from the Chinese market for us in the future will be about decarbonization, de-pollution, as well as the circular economy," Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, said on Wednesday in Beijing.